Perfect Pairings & Recipes for
Roast Pork

Discover the best flavour pairings for roast pork based on data analysis of thousands of recipes. Find perfect ingredient matches & delicious recipes.

Roast pork conjures the evocative embrace of thiamine and the kiss of caramel. But look beneath its obvious umaminess and you'll discover a captivating symphony of softer notes, a whisper of glutamate, a hint of protease, and subtle accents reminiscent of animal fat. These are the notes that lend it such remarkable, resonant depth. The key to finding the perfect pairing for roast pork is understanding how these notes harmonise.

To map these harmonies, we analysed thousands of ingredients, breaking each one down across 150 flavour dimensions, identifying which notes complement and contrast. Our analysis reveals, for example, how salad greens's leafy tones carry roast pork, and how thyme's thymic notes create a surprising synergy with its porky meatiness.

An ingredient's flavour profile is determined by its core characteristics (e.g. maillard, carnal, and herbal) enhanced by layers of subtle aroma notes (outer bars). When pairing ingredients, aim for a mix of core traits to build balance, and select complementary aroma notes to create harmony.

The Art of Flavour Pairing

To understand exactly which flavours harmonise, we compiled a database of over 50,000 ingredient pairings commonly used in cooking. We then analysed these pairings, identifying the specific flavour notes that frequently appear together.

The Flavours That Harmonise With Porcine Notes

Our analysis shows that the flavour of pork is strongly associated with the flavour of thyme. This suggests we should look for ingredients with a thyme-like flavour, such as thyme, when pairing with the porky aroma notes of roast pork.

The recipe below provides inspiration for pairing roast pork with thyme.

Harmonious Flavours Of Roast Pork

Just as our analysis revealed that pork and violic flavour notes are commonly paired, we can identify the full profile of flavours that harmonise with each of the flavours present in roast pork. For instance, the caramel notes of roast pork are strongly associated with cabbagy and peppery accents.

The aroma notes linked to the various aroma notes of roast pork can be seen highlighted in the pink bars below.

Matching Flavour Profiles

The flavour profile of salad greens offers many of the notes complementary to roast pork, including leafy and brassica aroma accents. Because the flavour profile of salad greens has many of the of the features that are complementary to roast pork, they are likely to pair very well together.

The chart above shows the unique profile of salad greens across 150 dimensions of flavour, while the recipes below offer inspiration for bringing these flavours together with roast pork.

Recipes That Pair Roast Pork With Salad Greens

Linked Flavour Notes

Looking at the notes that are most strongly associated with the various flavours of roast pork, we can identify other ingredients that are likely to pair well.

The left side of the chart above highlights the aroma notes of roast pork, along with the complementary aromas associated with each note. While the right side shows some of the ingredients that share many of the notes complementary to roast pork.

What To Drink With Roast Pork

The rosemary notes in côtes du rhône make it a perfect pairing with roast pork. Likewise, the violet flavours in crème de violette create a match made in heaven. Explore a variety of ingredients below that beautifully complement the unique character of roast pork below.

Which Vegetables Go With Roast Pork?

Choose vegetables that ground its sweetness or anchor its fermented aroma. Salad greens and broccoli offer vibrant, clean counterpoints, their verdant freshness lifting the palate. Red cabbage add a gentle, oniony brightness, while shishito pepper introduces a sophisticated, anise-tinged elegance.

Alternatively, embrace vegetables that harmonise with roast pork's fattiness. The addition of carrot, with its subtle saccharine notes, can complement the animal fat beautifully, while sweetcorn lends a clean sweetness.

How Flavonomics Works

We've pioneered a unique, data-driven approach to decode the intricate art of flavour pairing. Our goal is to move beyond intuition and uncover the science of why certain ingredients harmonise beautifully. This rigorous methodology allows us to provide you with insightful and reliable pairing recommendations.

Our analysis begins with over 50,000 carefully selected recipes from acclaimed chefs like Galton Blackiston, Marcello Tully, and Pierre Lambinon. This premium dataset ensures our model distils genuine culinary excellence and creativity.

Each ingredient from these recipes is deconstructed across 150 distinct flavour dimensions, creating a unique numerical "flavour fingerprint." This quantification allows us to apply advanced analytical methods to identify complex patterns between flavour notes.

We identify popular ingredient combinations that frequently appear in our recipe database. Regression analysis is then performed on these pairings to statistically validate and pinpoint truly harmonious flavours.

These insights drive our predictive model, which allows us to take any ingredient (e.g., Roast pork), analyse its detailed flavour profile, and accurately reveal its complementary flavours and perfect ingredient partners.